The last time Morton or Airdrieonians paraded the Scottish Cup through the streets it was on the back of a horse and cart.

Each side has only won the oldest trophy in world football once, the Greenock side doing so in 1922 with their Lanarkshire counterparts replicating the feat two years later.

On the basis of their finishing and football yesterday, if they ever do it again the cup will be displayed to fans in an open- top spaceship.

They two SPFL League One sides battled it out for 90 minutes, probably more out of duty to the 1400 who turned up than anything else, only to be rewarded with the opportunity to do it all over again in November 11. For all the scrappy play which defined this goalless third round tie, the Cappielow crowd nevertheless saw both teams carve out enough chances to win the entire tournament, even if neither had the conviction to stick at least one away.

Conor Pepper's half volley sprang just wide on three minutes for the hosts, while the former Inverness man was later denied by Airdrie keeper Andy McNeil just seconds after he denied Stefan McCluskey when through on goal. Andy Barrowman's second-half strike from 10 yards out straight at the visitors' No 1 was the best they could muster in a drab second half.

Gary Bolan's team, resplendent in a candy floss pink strip, had the better of the chances. Liam Watt's half-volley after four minutes was easily saved by Derek Gaston. Keigan Parker's fizzed effort from the byeline was also stopped by the Greenock No 1 and he went even closer on 35 minutes when his curling effort rebounded back off the bar from 20 yards.

His through ball to Scott Gray on 55 minutes only resulted in him trundling a poor shot into Gaston's arms when one on one.

Amid all of their chances, Airdrie were also given another helping hand as Joe McKee was shown a straight red by George Salmond with little under half an hour to play as his studs-up tackle brought on-loan Rangers defender Luca Gasparotto crashing to the turf. Alas, it ultimately made no difference.

"We'd have taken a draw when we went down to 10 men, we're delighted to still be in the cup," admitted Morton manager Jim Duffy. "Terrific effort, especially in the last 20 minutes when they had to roll their sleeves up to stay in the competition.

"We had a couple of great chances in the first half, but other than that we didn't create much. We'll need to improve significantly if we want to progress. As for the sending off, I have no complaints."

His counterpart Bolan added: "I felt throughout the match we created enough to win the game, but we didn't convert them. Things didn't go for us today in terms of converting chances, but they will on another day."